Good morning all. Welcome to this weeks edition of Behind the Scrapbook…. the real lives of Ginger Scraps! This is the place to find out all the juicy gossip on our Ginger Scraps team! Let’s se what I was able to dig up this week…

First up is Tabby…

The Scrapberry house is eating, sleeping, and breathing baseball. The oldest boy is playing rec ball and also plays tournament ball. He is an awesome little player and actually scored the tying run that took them into a 10 inning game on Friday night and then came into pitch in the 9th and 10th innings to strike out two batters in a row, unfortunately the third batter was able to send the ball soaring over the fence but hey, that was due to a good pitch right? He makes them proud . So yes, she is one of those moms that sits on the side line yelling and screaming her head off and she’s been known to argue with the umps a few times too

Oh and here’s a little tip from Miss Scrapberry herself… if you need to know how to get that red clay out of those white ball pants, the secret is soap called “Fels Naptha”!

I also found out that Mandy had a little excitement last weekend. The Mandymade family lives on an acreage and have a few horses, dogs, cats and a whole lot of grass and yard work! SO working as a team every weekend you’ll find everyone doing their favorite jobs. Mandy (the boss) is head weed whacker, weed puller and cook. Kelsey (16) is head sun tanner and pool bug scooper. Mark (the hubby) is in charge of the house build and bring home the bacon guy. And they are very happy to report that Julie (their youngest offspring) has graduated to mowing queen!! Yup that’s right she even has her own mower! Here is a staged photo… they had to stage it because she mows at warp 9 and is usually just a blur….

SO little miss mows-a-lot was doing her thing and Mandy was supervising she found two featherless baby birds laying in the grass. After closer inspection they found the nest 30 feet above in the peak of the tin roof. So along came Mark with his trusty ladder. They had a look in the nest… no babies and it was baking hot! So they brought the babies in the house and warmed them with a hot water bottle. Mandy with her mad web skills found a great organization that rescues wild animals. The very helpful ladies at Wildlife Rehabilitation Society of Edmonton had them build a nest, place the babies in it and supervise it to see if any birds come to claim them. The nest the birds built in the peak was unsuitable as it was built under a tin roof and had no way of keeping the babies from falling out. So after an hour no birds had claimed them. So we packed up the babies and drove them to the Wildlife Rehab Center. They checked out fine even though they had fallen 30 feet… and they also found out they were Starlings! The Center is going to nurse them back to health and when they are ready to be released Julie gets to do the honors! How fun is that! After all the excitement they realized they didn’t even take one photo! But no worries they will have camera in hand for the release! Check back for updates! We will keep you posted:)

So I’ve been Stalking the ladies at GS for some time now and I stumbled across this….

Did you hear? Rachel A.K.A Pretty in Green has been busy getting her store ready? We are so excited to have her join our fabulous team! This is a preview of some product she’s been working on. I don’t know about you but I’m super excited and can’t wait to see more!!! Look for her Grand opening in July!

Well that’s about it for this week…. come back next Saturday and I’ll be sure to dig up some more dirt! Till then happy scrapping and I’m sure I’ll see you around the forum…. BTW just wondering, what’s your favorite GS challenge this month?? Mine has to be Bite My Head Off! I’m off to find a photo to play with!

This weeks amazing LOTW winner is dricamendes. Check out her layout below. Do you want to be a LOTW winner? Of course you do! Nothing is easier than posting a layout to the Gingerscraps Gallery. If you impress the Gingerbread Makers you just might be nominated. It can’t hurt to try and you just might create a LO that you love! You can help determine this weeks winner by going here to vote for the layout that inspires YOU the most.

It’s Thursday! Time to get crafty! Let’s talk about Duct Tape. I love Duct Tape. My boys think you can fix anything with the stuff! But…it’s not only for sticking things together. You can make fun stuff with it. It comes in tons of colors now! My son Chris makes wallets to give his friends. You can make purses, flowers, bows, even cloths! Check out these Prom Outfits!

Pretty crazy huh! Can you imagine!

Now me, I like to make bows and flowers. The bows are super simple and take no time at all. They look so cute in the hair!

I found a UTube Video on how to make them and now I can whip them right up!

My very favorite Duct Tape project is the flowers! I love making them. They are so cute and people freak when I tell them it’s Duct Tape!

These ones have pin backs on them. They look so cute pinned on my Jean jacket, or top, or even pinned on my tote bag.

This one is on a Bobby Pin, right in my nieces hair.

I love these! You want to learn how to make some! I pretty much followed THIS Tutorial I came across one day. I do it pretty much the same way, but used thread since I didn’t have fishing line, and I sew my buttons on with embroidery floss. I have a thing about empty button holes. LOL! I can stand to see them glues on with no thread going through the holes. Anal..I know. I also added some leaves to mine.

But, aren’t these just the cutest things!

You know you want to make some! Got for it! You will love them. Oh and BTW, you can get all these Duct Tape colors at Target, or any craft store!

This is a bright and sugary kit! Filled with yummy patterns and sugar sweet treats! Perfect for scrapping birthday pics, summer pics, or just any old pictures of your kids being sweet! This kit is huge and includes 16 Patterned Papers, 59 Elements, cardstock and an alpha!
Kit is $6, but on sale for the first week only! Get it while it’s ooey-gooey sticky sweet! Also make sure to check out ScrappyCocoa’s blog for a freebie add on!

LO made with Mask it in Words, Underdog by Scrappy Cocoa and Doodle Borders by GingerScraps

And ……

Nature Walk “Textures”~ Set 1
Let’s go on another nature Walk!
Designers, this set of 10 high resolution stock photos are perfect for adding dramatic texture to your papers.
All in 12×12 and both full color and desaturated are included.
All taken by me and perfect to give your papers that “realistic” texture and look.
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My nickname in high school was Ladybug so I figured it was about time I put something out with ladybugs! So my “Ladybug Alpha” was born! This lovely alpha comes with a separate ladybug to accent your page. This is a full alpha, Uppers, Lowers, Numbers and some punctuation.

Do have pictures from your last cruise that you still haven’t scrapped? This mini-quick page album contains 6 pages to help you quickly finish your last vacation album! Scrapped by me with elements created by the fabulous Jen Graham and Ellie Lash, all of the pages have matching shadows for better flow for your next vacation scrapbook.
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Got some photos of that you’ve been meaning to scrap but haven’t found the time to do it? My creative team has done the work for you and created these 6 coordinating pages using “Just Like Sean” to get your photos scrapped in a snap! Like these pages and want to create some of your own? Check out the full kit here! Pages created by: Heather, Heide, Kimmy, Tabby (myself)

Hot days and cool nights are just aound the corner and we all know how much fun Beach Parties are. From the vibrant colors of the ocean and the warm sunny golds, splashed with vibrant reds this Beach Party 2 kit has it. Its like a Beach Party in a box!

So you think girls can’t play tough? Skirts in the Dirt will wipe away any thoughts of that. For those girls that aren’t afraid to get down and get dirty, this softball inspired kit is a sure home run!

Are you all loving our new blog schedule? Fun stuff all around. Make sure to check the blog every day!

Sadly no one commented on last weeks challenge spotlight and so I have no one to give my prize to. Maybe we’ll have better luck this week.

Today I’m spotlighting a brand new challenge at Gingerscraps. Mandy’s June Mix. The Mix is challenge that mixes up every month. You never know what it will be, but it will always be some great new challenge!

This month Mandy created a great layout for you to scraplift with one rule – create a LO capturing your favorite summer activity or memory from the past! This can be from way in the past, or last summer, or even yesterday if you really want it to be. Here’s her fantastic LO:

To help you with the scraplift Mandy has suggested you choose 3 things from this LO and make them your own!
It can be anything from color, white space, photo placement, photo edits, journaling placement, ellie cluster, rounded corners… or anything else you can pick out.
You may also add anything else you wish.

Here’s one that Cath has done

by Cath

Sounds fun huh? I think so! So head over the the June Mix and make your own! Then come back here and post the link to your LO in the gallery and post it in a comment here. Next week I’ll randomly select one and that person will win a prize from ME! (Harmonystar). CT & those who have already done the challenge are elligable. Let me see those comments!

Well are you ladies ready to Dish it up? I know I am. This will be a joint effort by myself, and Tabby from Scrapberry Designs. I guess I should introduce myself also. I am Teri from Teri’s Thing-O-My-Jigs. So each week we will be answering your questions that are posted in our forum here. This should be fun and feel free to ask away. We will do our best to dish it up to you on a silver platter! Each week we will answer a few of the questions asked and will try to cover all of them if time permits.

Pretty in Green writes: how do you convert a non-scraper in to a scraper or a digi-scraper at that?

Pretty, I would say the best way to convert a non-scraper into a scrapper is to share your passion with them. Show them some of the things that you have created. Let them see the immediate gratification that you get when you take a photo and make it a memory. Introduce them to sites, Gingerscrap’s should be on the top of your list, to let them get familiar with the variety of kits out there. Hook them up in the forum so they feel like they have a source and a place to ask questions. Digi-Scrapping is like Lay’s potato chips, no one can scrap just one! Hope that will encourage you to go out and share you passion with your friends and family. They will be glad you did.

Julie writes: I have a question…What are you giving your hubby for Fathers Day?

A few weeks ago, I was in San Antonio and watching the local morning show and they had an author on there, doing a promotion on a book he had written called “The Fourth Fisherman” by Joe Kissack. I was very intrigued with what he had to say and put in in the back of my mind to get for my hubby and for my dad too. I tried to find it at Barnes and Noble and also at our local Christian Book Store, but I think as of now, its only available through the website. If you are intersted, you can check it out here. Here is what they say others are saying about this book:

What people are saying about the book:

“People of faith, myself included, often put limitations on it. But, as you’ll read here, real freedom comes when we finally surrender to the mystery of God and what He is doing. Thank you Joe for being so honest and real. I loved it!”–Jeff Foxworthy, Standup Comedian, Best Selling Author, and TV Personality
“We love this message. Joe weaves together two stories with the same central theme, ‘being lost and adrift’ and how one thing–faith in God–provided each of the Four Fishermen the courage and comfort to face the next day and its uncertainties, and ultimately lead them safely to shore. These are the stories that we hold tight in our memories–
when days seem so uncertain and doubts scream at us that we’ll never find the shore.”–Shaunti & Jeff Feldhahn, Best Selling Authors, For Women Only, For Men Only
“Joe is an ordinary guy that has been given an extraordinary story. He answered a call that few will ever get a chance to say yes to, let alone hear. I wish it could have been me.”–Steve Bartkowski, NFL Football Legend, Outdoorsman, Motivational Speaker
“You won’t be able to put this book down. It is more than the true story of three courageous fishermen and one brave author. Believe it or not, hidden within their inspiring stories, is your story. It is the belief that life is bigger than we think. It is the hope of wanting our lives to have purpose. It’s all there. If you’re looking to find that hope, a common purpose and a reason to still believe, you’ve come to the right place. But be warned. The journey begins when you board this boat…”–Jeff Henderson, Pastor, Northpoint Ministries, Buckhead Church

Sounds interesting huh? I am hoping that my men will like it.
Last one for this week was asked by Barbara. She writes: What do you consider to be a good day?”

As a 16 year breast cancer survivor, ( I was 36 when diagnosed ) any day is a good day to me! I am blessed to be alive and try to live each to the fullest. While I am not always successful, it is a goal of mine. I did learn some valuable life lessons while facing the possibility of dying from cancer. I had a wonderful role model as my own mother fought the battle herself until she could no longer fight and she died when she was 47. But, as a testimony to the Lord, she would say that ” if that’s what it took for her to know the Lord, she would go through it all again.” So while I won my battle, It did teach me to enjoy each day, and not to get all wrapped up in things that don’t have eternal value. I hope that this will make us all take a look at what is a good day and choose to enjoy this one! I had a girl friend who used to say to me, This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. I still say this to myself quite often! Remember its a choice!

Finally I’m getting caught up on dishing out LOTW prizes! Check out the winners below. Maybe you won, maybe you didn’t but don’t worry. If you didn’t win, all you have to do is upload your LO’s to the gallery and you just might be nominated! We don’t require you to use Gingerscrap products, but we sure love it when you do. LOTW Winners each receive a prize. What are you waiting for? Check ‘em out!

LOTW winner for 5/8-5/14 is gonewiththewind (She used Rambunctious Bundle of Boy kit available in the Gingerscraps store.)

LOTW winner for 5/15-5/21 is Scrappinbella
LOTW winner for 5/22-5/28 is Natalee

LOTW winner for 5/29-6/4 is Scrappinbella

Don’t forget to head over to the LOTW Thread each week to vote on the LOTW page that most inspires you! You might just find one of your layouts have been nominated.

Today is the first of our new Thursday “Let’s Get Crafty” Feature! I will be sharing with you all kinds of crafty goodness! Hybrid of course will be one of the many topics we will cover!

Today I will be showing you how to make a Hybrid Graduation Cap Greeting Card from the New Template in the GingerScraps Store by Wyld Web Designs!

This was Charmaine’s very first try at designing a hybrid template and she did a fabulous job! Perfect timing for me too! My niece graduates High School on Friday! So let’s get started.

What I used for this project was…

The Graduation Cap Template, A digi paper in the color you want you cap to be. I also used the perfect Word Art for this project! The Graduation Day Word Art by, Kathy Winters at GingerScraps. I also used the Doodle Borders by GingerScraps.

You will also need a printer and some nice card stock or Matte photo paper to print on, a glue stick or some tape something to score your folds, and some ribbon to make a tassel!

The first step is to design your card in Photoshop (or whatever program you use to digi scrapbook) Its is so easy with this template, you just clip you paper to the layers. Then add the word art. This took me like 2 minutes! Maybe even less. Then print it out on your photo setting of your printer.

After the ink is nice and dry cut it out and score on the dashed lines. You should always score before folding for nice crisp folds.

Now fold on the lines you just scored.

Now glue the curved piece together to make the bottom of the cap and glue it to the bottom of the card. Just put glue on the tabs and press it on with your bone folder or a Popsicle stick or something. Just to make a nice good hold.

You can add a little tape too if you would like. Now for the tassel, you can always just go buy a tassel at the craft store, but, I didn’t have any tassels on hand so I just took a few pieces of ribbon about 6 inches long each, folded them in half and tie another piece of ribbon around the top to hold them together.

Punch a hole in the corner of your card and tie the tassel on with another piece of ribbon! So simple and what a Great impression this card will make!

Isn’t it so cool! I loved this template! It was so fun to make, and easy to. I came together super fast!

This Stock Image set includes 10 beautiful photographs Julie took while on one of her many Nature Walks.
All images 300 dpi and approximately 8by10 inches. And approved for Commercial Use.
To read the Full TOU Click HERE

_________________________________________________________________________________Julie is now offering her 365 templates to you in Big templates packs. This is her first set – Weeks 1- 10. She makes a new template EVERY week – but they all go together perfectly…. making the most amazing 365 album ever!!

I remember when I used to “paper” scrapbook. I loved to draw doodles around the edges of my pages. Now you can do it on your digital pages! With my hand doodled border frames.

Another great use for these doodles is as frames. When you have the perfect photo one of the first things you do is find a frame to show it off. Well the same is true in digi scrapping. These adorable Doodle Borders will be the finishing touch for all your photos. Use them as is to frame, or layer behind other frames as a base to create beautiful clusters.

And Scrappy Cocoa has a SUPER cute new kit out today!!!! Summer Garden

As winter begins to melt away and summer shines though, I love to plant my flower garden. This kit is just right for scrapping all your gardening, planting, weeding and flowery pictures! Kit includes 17 papers, and 47 elements including lots of birds, flowers and gardening equipment! This kit is $4.00

Scrappy Cocoa also has a freebie alpha that you can snag up!_________________________________________________________________________________

ModernJune has a AWESOME kit this week!! I am so in love with it! – Soul Sister
Soul Sister is a kit perfect for all you BFF’s out there! Inspired by my own BFF, Soul Sister is fun, and sassy and filled with surprises! Let your pictures pop against the vibrantly colored pages and fun doddley elements!

Kathy Winters Designs has four wordart packs that are being re-released and added to the store. Although they are existing products they are new to GingerScraps.

D is for Daddy
This wordart pack contains nine (9) phrases or words that can be used as is or you can add your own creative touches before adding to your scrapbook layouts dedicated to Dad or if you’re like me, my Daddy.

Regular price $2.00 — Sale price through June 12th for $1.50.Fatherhood
This wordart pack contains five (5) phrases that can be used as is or you can add your own creative touches before adding to your scrapbook layouts dedicated to the Fathers in your life.

Regular price $2.00 — Sale price through June 12th for $1.50.
Here’s a wonderful layout by Rachel using MandyMade’s 365 Scrap You Life kit and pieces from both Fatherhood and D is for Daddy.

Summer Lovin’
This pack of wordart comes in both a decorated and plain version with each containing ten (10) phrases that can be used as is or you can add your own creative touches before adding to your scrapbook layouts dedicated to “summer lovin’.” Have fun, play around and see where your creativity takes you.

Regular price $3.00 — Sale price through June 12th for $2.25
Here is a beautiful layout by Becca using Soul Sister by Modern June and the Summer Lovin’ Wordart pack.

Want the decorated version of the Summer Lovin’ Word (decorated) art set?? Well check this out! Kathy has this full set all ready to go for you! Just drag and drop onto your page!_________________________________________________________________________________

HarmonyStar has some beautiful Heirloom Pearl necklaces to add a little elegance to your kit or layout.

A set of 4 pearl necklace coils for commercial and personal use. Saved in .png format at 300dpi.

Photographed by Jen Graham and painstakingly extracted by Rachel Yancey (Harmony Star), the pearl necklace Jen’s grandmother gave to her for her wedding day will be the perfect addition to your wedding or heritage kits.

Quality checked and guaranteed to be stray pixel and jagged edge free.

MandyMade has totally out done herself!!! This Huge kit will get you all the way through your summer photos! Water Getaway – $5

This is the first in a series of Getaway kits. This one is called Water! Great for scrapping summer, beach, swimming, bathing and pool photos… and don’t forget about those oh so “crabby” shots as well! Included in this kit are 25 patterned papers and 88 specialty elements!Water Getaway – $5

Water is only the first in a series of kits coming your way. Each kit will color coordinate and will only include patterned papers and specialty elements and will be theme based. I will also have available for sale (packaged separately) coordinating pack of glitter, solid papers, and the staples (buttons, ribbon, flowers, etc). This way you only buy what you need or want. but if I were you I’d keep an eye on my FB fan page for coupons!!

I also have two new CU packs… the first is CU Flowers #4. Included are 10 grey scale fabric flowers, all are saved as a .png. Just add color(s), maybe even a splash of glitter to really make them pop!! Easy to use with no missing pixels or strays!!

This is a set of 13 commercial use ribbons ready for you to recolor. All ribbons are grey scale .png, large in size and have no missing pixels or strays!! Included are 7 straight ribbons, 1 ric rac, 1 bow, 2 curly and 2 photo wraps.

ScrappyCocoa also has this new kit for you today… I LOVE this!! I actually said out loud “Oh how cute!” when I saw it!!Underdogs! To the rescue!!! This is a fun and bright kit perfect to scrap all your little hero’s! Kit has 12 papers and 46 elements including fun items such as capes, heroes, text bubbles, stickers, buttons, ribbons, glitters and scribbles!

LO by Julie using Underdog by Scrappy Cocoa and Doodle Borders by GingerScraps

Give the graduate in your life a one-of-a-kind memento! This customizable template can be used to create a greeting card in any color to celebrate the graduation of anyone from preschooler to college graduate! Easy to use and assemble, this card can be given on its own as a unique gift or as a gift card or cash holder. This download contains one PSD file for Photoshop users as well as individual PNG files for other program users.

Unique, Different and One of a Kind. Just Like Sean. This kit was named after my oldest son and is perfect for those “Boys will be Boys” photos. Just Like Sean was geared towards those boys that are “tweens”. You know, in between being a little bundle of energy to becoming quite the charmer.

Set of 5 seamless glitter styles compatible with Photoshop made to coordinate with the digital scrapbook kit Just Like Sean

Regular Price $2.25 On Sale for $1.57 through June 13th_________________________________________________________________________________

Awesome goodies this week huh?!

One last note- If your getting this newsletter but cant see any of the images- please go adjust your preferences. All you need to do is select you want the newsletter to arrive in HTLM- and you will get the next newsletter full of wonderful images

If you have trouble and cant figure out how to change your preferences, send me an e-mail and I will be happy to help you

Is anyone else as excited as I am about the amazing amount of comments I got from last weeks post? So what did it, was it the new knowledge that you get a free kit for doing the progressive scrap? was it the overwhelming desire for a chance to win one of my goodies? Or was it the fact that all you had to do was sign up and not really complete a Layout? Yeah totally the last one huh? No matter! I am pleased as can be. So pleased in fact that I pulled 2 numbers out of the random generator! Yay! So comment 11 Sniksnak & comment 2 crinkletoast are the lucky winners! And here is what they won!

Now onto the challenge spotlight! Lets hear a word up for Julie’s Word Lover’s Challenge! Every month Julie will give you a great way to use those words. Be it Word Art, journaling, or something else super fun like this month’s challenge which happens to be list your 10 favorite things about summer in your journaling! It’s your Top 10 Faves of Summer!

Here in SE Idaho, we’ve had no hint of summer yet, but hopefully the rest of you have and can make a great LO about your 10 favorite things! Here’s one from Steph to give you some ideas.

by Stephanie

By the way, if you absolutely adore the kit Steph used like I do, you will want to get those 365/52 Layouts in cause it’s Scrappy Cocoa’s (Steph’s) challenge prize. How exciting!

Be sure to get your Word Lover’s challenge done this week then come back here and post the link to your LO in the gallery and post it in a comment here. Next week I’ll randomly select one and that person will win a prize from ME! (Harmonystar). CT & those who have already done the challenge are elligable. Let me see those comments!